Deemania since 56

Bloody good question.

Cannot forget the Friday night special in the 70s, after drinking beer until closing time: a fully loaded Capricciosa pizza, 24-inch in diameter, with black olives, anchovies, ham, capsicum, 3 cheeses, basil, tomatoes and paste at the bottom, onions, pepperoni, fresh chopped mushrooms (no canned muck), more ham, more cheese and the price? $1.50 @ Venezia Pizza, Glenferrie Road, Malvern. In those days, you could drink a gutful for $15, all night ... And the footy on Saturday to follow with a pie and dead horse, donuts and more beer. Character building.

Great call by Deespicable. Solid team. Fritsch does better on the HFflank in a cross-over role, rather than solely man-on-man. Smith is a must for movement and height, intercepts and disposal. Clarrie on the bench gives it some dignity and will throw their coach off the melting wax throne to which he has become accustomed. Expect Vanders and Harmes to do something nasty to the cheating Dangermouse within a very fast succession of bodily contact drills, and as for poor Selwood, who could forget how Viney left him mentally shafted on the carpet with the perfect opposition player disposal mission earlier in the year? Happy Fathers Day to all dads, today. My son got me flights to Melbourne, 2-nights apartment accommodation in East Melb and tickets for the game coz I deserve it. 'Carna Dees. The lad and I regard this match as the pinnacle of the year.

Nev is the third 'single favoured' so far on this page ... guess I am a tart for the boys, it is so hard to separate Clarrie, Gawnie and Nev, that's why. Each is just one step below the great Robbie, in my opinion, with Gus pushing up each game and yet, no-one will ever exceed Flower in terms of team contribution, skill, expertise, 'unbeatableness', heart and loyalty to the MFC. I still miss Robbie and wish we had another one these days. Just imagine if he was in the current team!

Pruese from the Kangas would be good in this regard, as well as turning him into a kp either fwd or bkwd. Probably got the spelling of his name incorrect, but hey, not everyone is a Smith or Jones.

That is pretty true AF, he is nearly there if that is the role he is shifting towards; I suspect that it needs continued focus and I also suspect that he has greater skills yet to come, certainly equal to - or higher than - those of De Goey. His enigmatic footy might well enable a varied series of roles more inclusive that just drawing opponents' in his direction.

Simple questions that when addressed, could make us a Premiership team with Hogan at the Front Door up fwd. We owe it to him and the long-suffering fans - no trade for Hogan would be satisfactory - he is one tremendous asset who should be allowed to play in a more-controlled team than what we so often currently exhibited. NO TRADE FOR HOGAN, banish the thought.

I'd play Preusse as a CHBack, with some ruck relieving roles across a game. Be an ideal opponent for some of the well-favoured, smart-arse, Hawkins-like forwards around the competition at present, and could be lethal when required for the Selwoods, Dangerfields, the whole Filth team, and in tempering some of the Essendrug thugs. That is just a small handful of potential roles if we wanted to get nasty with all teams ... hitman heaven!

Too bloody right! Frost was the man who should have been down back - Paul Roos saw it and that is good enough for me. It was an absolute disgrace to rely so heavily on the 'lethargic' and indecisive OMac for such a role. Frosty is one of our best.

'Home' takes on revived meaning for us, doesn't it? We have some scores to settle, with Geelong the largest score, of all, this year. Saw on 'Talking Footy' last night that if poor old Maxy (forgiven, of course) had kicked that last goal in the game against the Catty Puts and Tuohy had missed that exorbitant free kick winning goal in the the last minute of the second Catty Puts match, we would now be in second spot on the ladder - the problem is that on both occasions, the umpires deliberately kept a losing-terribly Geelong in the game from the second qtr to the last, so there was effectively no way of keeping them bleeding badly as we scored heavily against the odds fabricated by the Green Snot Brethren on the AFL's behalf. So, playing the Cats next in an elimination final will be more than overdue justice, it will be poetry in motion as we take the game by 50 points and Dangerfield is hospitalised for recovery across the summer break.

Very, very true.

We have been blessed with this excellent Clubman, athlete, personality, driver, icon of the game.

His potential reigns, even after the past two years in which (the rest of) our Club has struggled almost continuously to reliably deliver the ball with the adage of 'eyes up' that may have otherwise encouraged Hoges to lead into space, to bring the ball to ground goalward and to score a phenomenal amount of goals - or provide goal assists - in that timeframe and yet, he still has an impressive record of goals scored, remains a tremendous threat to opposing teams' backmen and has made his way all over the forward line to become more involved and more mobile as an attacking forward with exceptional forward line defensive pressure. Now that the Dees in general are moving the ball with intent rather than ' bombing ' it to earn a statistic (aka the Jones' mantra), the team is more suited to enabling Hoges to be the forward he actually is - dynamic and prolific. Let's hope that these team qualities continue and further develop, and from that, Hoges' potential is assured and with it, the MFC success rate will escalate markedly.

No wucking furries!

My coming fortnight will consist of nothing else than these thoughts. The two losses this year demand vengeance.

Absolutely correct. I have a feeling that if this is done for every 50m entry he makes, then he will kick a bag of goals and be a real decoy target for defenders, so that the Melk, TMac and others can do their thing. I suspect that this will start occurring in the finals as part of his revised approach to the game - now that he is running hard, again.

They are (largely) old men whose only wisdom is a contrite outlook on their own invincibility. Run 'em off their feet for three qtrs and then hit 'em hard all over the ground.

You forgot the vandenBerg crunch - front on, hard, fast, on his way to another engagement for the ball. It would suit Dangerfield.

All good.

Absolutely, and be great, well-rehearsed gentlemen and ladies, open to criticism, win-loss aspects of the game, the longer-term good of the game and a happy, accepting nature when travelling interstate for matches. They might even bring some excellent cheese to share with Dees' supporters to enjoy at half-time with a glass or two of fine cold-climate white. We must encourage this, from the Apple Isle, as mark of disrespect to Whoreform's efforts with these lovely people, establishing a bond and deep friendship within the hallowed turf of the MCG/MFC/MCC. All good. Hey, I reckon Russell Robertson would be in it, too.

Sam is the all-time worst of Australian TV - good onyer, Ox, legendary and deserved act - just like Biffen did to Newman years ago.

Great questions and certainly, a key thought in the next few years. Notice the son's height relative to the Ox? Developing nicely, no doubt. What an acquisition that would be!

Really like the options provided on the bench - particularly J, Smith. I'd rest Spargo I think. Jones could be lethal in the fwd pkt.

Probably correct, just a little concerned at this point about Fritsch on the backline not the fwd line, and JKH who played well against the GWS team (particularly tackling) being near there, too. For me, and it is an interim thought, JKH would be better on the backline against the Catty Puts from the bench to the backline and midline wings, roving and linking to aid his defensive pressure. I'd consider that JKH could contribute more to 'the Team' in such a role than Spargo at this point of the season, with Hannan and Fritsch fwd. The southern flank along the whole length of the ground must be utilised this game - far more than ever before - as was done by the Swans against us - providing a linkage up and down the ground for the smaller and more mobile runners. Space is enormous for our game style so I am hoping that we do not choke the northern flank against the Catty Puts who will outmark and provide clearances far more readily than we can. I'd consider this strategy to force Selwood and Dangerfield to run all day attempting to catch up and intercept rather than play their preferred tight crush where frees abound for them. A few random thoughts, again, but not concrete opinions for game day.

But, Hannan is better up forward at the moment, if fit.